Rhondalynn Korolak

First let’s get one thing straight – happiness and optimism are not the same thing.  Happiness is an emotion, a feeling, a state of mind that can be changed in an instant. Optimism is something quite different – it is a belief about the future. 

Optimists trust that the future will be mostly good – they also believe their decisions, choices and actions shape their destinies.  There is evidence to suggest that optimists tend to have better coping mechanisms and tend to be less negatively impacted but life’s little ups and downs.  They recover faster, tend to eat right and exercise, are less likely to smoke, suffer less from aches and pains and are at a much lower risk for dementia and other diseases.

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Rhondalynn Korolak, Author of "On The Shoulders of Giants"

 “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. ”  William Arthur Ward

I was reminded of this brilliant principle last week when I spoke to one of my business coaching clients.  There can be no doubt that we are living in interesting times…. the global financial crisis has impacted overall spending and consumer sentiment – and this has hurt many small businesses around the country.  It’s no good hoping that circumstances will change – in order to survive we all need to dig deep and find creative ways to work smarter not harder.

Jim Collins, in his book, “Good to Great,” talks about this very interesting paradox that he calls “The Stockdale Principle”.  According to Collins, “you have to be realistic about your current situation and yet, stay optimistic about the future”.  

General Stockdale was the highest ranking American prisoner of war in Hanoi, Vietnam. Over the years he began to notice an interesting phenomenon – optimism could in fact be a liability.  His fellow prisoners (who were the eternal optimists) constantly set themselves up for disappointment.  They set huge milestones – “we will be rescued by Christmas” – but those milestones came and went year after year and with it… their will to live.

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Rhondalynn Korolak

The definition of “flirt”, according to the dictionary is:

• to court triflingly or act amorously without serious intentions or
• to trifle or toy, as with an idea.

While many may jump to a pre-mature conclusion (no double entendre intended ), flirting is not synonymous with short skirts, sex, massages and unwarranted promotions etc.  I would never advocate using overt sexuality to get business or a promotion.  It simply isn’t appropriate, professional or effective.  What I am speaking about is very simple – it is about two objectives (1) being memorable and (2) developing rapport with another person for the purposes of enhancing your work relationship.

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Rhondalynn Korolak

For those of you who were at the South Melbourne Business Association breakfast this weekend, as promised, here is a copy of the powerpoint presentation slides with more content and specifics…

http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AYBH8mMoO9b6ZGY5czUydDNfMWhkMnZoNGZu&hl=en

Please feel free to contact me with any questions that you might have – I am happy to elaborate on these topics and provide whatever further guidance I can…